There are numerous toys and ‘magic tricks’ known in the art in which one or more objects are suspended in the air using a visible or near-invisible tether. For example, mobiles or small airplanes often use visible relatively thick tethers to control the path of the suspended object or airplane. While such thick tethers advantageously secure the object or airplane in a robust manner and even allow significant forces on the object or airplane, the tether typically precludes the illusion of free flight or levitation.
On the other hand, many ‘magic tricks’ rely on a near-invisible tether to suspend an object in the air that one would not expect to fly or levitate. However, and especially where such tethers are very thin, manufacture, storage, and performance are often problematic. For example, near-invisible tethers are typically monofilaments or thin filament bundles having a thickness of about 10-80 microns, making controlled handling very difficult due to the very low tensile strength and tendency to tangle. Moreover, such tethers are generally not available as a commodity and must be prepared by unwinding from a multi-filament yarn, which requires considerable dexterity, attention span, and time commitment. Still further, attachment of the tether to the object is often complicated due to the near-invisible nature of the tether. Therefore, set-up for ‘magic tricks’ that rely on such tethers is often cumbersome and typically precludes small children (e.g., 10 years and younger) from such entertainment.
Therefore, while numerous methods for tethered entertainment devices are known in the art, all or almost all of them suffer from one or more disadvantages. Most notably, known near-invisible tethers are notoriously difficult to handle due to their tendency to tangle, to resist stable knot formation, and electrostatic cling. Consequently, there is still a need to provide simplified kits and methods for improved handling of near-invisible tethers.